


According To Plan

by PerfectlyHopeless



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29455125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectlyHopeless/pseuds/PerfectlyHopeless
Summary: The Hunt for the High Celebrant reaches its climax, and Elise has a plan to rescue her friend.
Relationships: Female Guardian/The Crow
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	According To Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: Syzygy, Elise's Ghost, uses they/them pronouns and I've been careful while writing to avoid confusion whenever they're addressed.
> 
> Note 2: A vast majority of this is combat for the Coup De Grace mission from my Guardian's perspective, with liberties taken for the sake of sensical fight choreography and a little bit of fluff sprinkled in. It was mostly written as an exercise for myself. So if you back out now because that's uninteresting to you, I promise I won't be offended and I hope that you have a lovely rest of your day <3

* * *

They had a plan. It was a good one, too. Osiris and Crow had put together a lure that would bring the High Celebrant of Xivu Arath to them. But it could only be killed in the Ascendant Plane. Crow was on the other side, having jumped in through one of the Dreaming City's many ethereal holes, working to drive it out. She shot down Thrall in the halls of one of the City's grander spires as they coordinated.

Elise also had a plan. For afterwards. It was potentially foolish and dangerous, but Spider had promised her a gift from his lair if she were able to finish the job. All she had to do was twist his words a little, challenge him. She couldn't pretend it wouldn't be painless. Syzygy had already been instructed to stay inside if anything were to go too wrong. She didn't want them to be added to Spider's sick collection of Lightless Ghosts. 

Crow's excited voice on the other end of the comms shook her from her day dreaming. Elise breathed deeply and set the lure. 

The dance had been like the others. The smaller Knights had an essence within them that helped to break through the magic defenses of their leader. Unlike before, now she didn't have Crow watching over her. 

She died.

She woke up just in the next hall with a sharp pain in her chest.

Syzygy quickly decompiled and went back inside once she was healed. The two didn't go through their usual routine. Normally, Elise would ask what killed her, how it killed her. Syzygy would answer and advise. There wasn't time for that now. She scrambled back to her feet and switched to her rifle, shooting the Knights. Then to her SMG, running back into the fray and taking out the Thrall with some ease. 

"Watch yourself," her Ghost cautioned from inside.

“I’m okay,” she assured Syzygy, her voice soft as she remembered to breathe.

They continued their hunt. She set down a Healing Rift, her own Light renewing her as she shot down the Thrall and Knights. Elise leapt into the air, a flaming sword in her grasp and wings of fire at her back. She sent searing torrents towards her foes until the rush faded and the Celebrant fled in a burst of green Hive magics.

She would have been frustrated, but Crow was clever. He’d managed to cause it to leave behind orbs of energy, similar to Taken Blights, that could punch a hole in the veil for Elise to follow after the Celebrant. She shot it and found herself inside the swirling void of the Ascendant Plane. Osiris cautioned her over the comms, warning that trespassers wouldn’t be tolerated. Elise moved quickly, finding the next orb and destroying it. The veil was torn open again, and Elise was back in the tower. She followed the blood trail left behind the Celebrant to a large chamber beneath that she had been in before. She couldn't discern its purpose, but she knew that Ahamkhara bones dwelled within. Even dead, the wish dragons were dangerous to toy with. 

Crow stayed behind, following in Elise’s steps on the other side to make sure someone could go after it if it fled again. And so the dance continued. 

She died again, this time to a Wrathborn Vandal from across the arena that had gotten in a lucky shot with its wire rifle. Syzygy gave her the quick report from inside as she charged back in with her sword drawn. Elise was as light on her feet as any Hunter and made short work of the smaller foes before she turned her attention towards the Celebrant once again. It hardly reacted to her attacks, blasting her backwards. She blocked most of the hit with the flat of her blade and caught herself in the air, gliding gently with her tattered robes fluttering around her legs. Elise narrowed her eyes, switched over to her Borealis, and hid behind a short wall with a bench. 

"Dammit," she said under her breath as a shot at a Captain went wide. She reloaded, the next round connecting. Elise turned her aim on the towering Celebrant, getting in a few good headshots before an arc blade connected with her thigh. She cried out and set down another Rift, gathering Solar energy in her hand before shooting it out on the Wretches that had nearly piled up on her. Crow's sympathy for the Eliksni and her alliance with Variks put a bit of guilt in her stomach at all of the life being lost here. 

She set it aside to refocus. Elise put the Celebrant back in her sights and fired on it. She was chipping away at it, slowly, but still doing damage.

She rushed out with her blade once more. The Celebrant parried her attack this time. Elise leapt into the air to avoid the downswing and jumped around it, dragging the edge of her sword down its back. The Celebrant let out a roar and blasted her backwards again. 

Elise skidded on the floor, the rubber of her soles squeaking against the polished stone as tucked herself in to avoid being sent rolling. She clutched at the hilt of her blade with one hand and gathered another ball of fire in her other. The grenade was sent flying across the room, landing at the Celebrant's feet. It let out another roar as it summoned more minions to its side. Elise grimaced and swapped back to her SMG, reloading and taking cover behind a large pot. She set down a Rift in preparation, her Light a shield as the Wrathborn Fallen began to swarm her. She took them out with some ease, setting alight a Captain with fire that shot from her palm. 

Again, she pulled out her Borealis rifle. She set the energy type to Solar and took aim on the Celebrant. One headshot managed to crack through its chitin, shards blasting off the side of its face. Another landed in the upper chest, chipping away its plating. One shot went wide as the behemoth moved out of her line of sight. Elise reset her rifle to Arc, knocking out the shields of a Captain that was behind it and finishing it off. 

Again, she took up her blade. Elise charged it from behind, managing to stagger it and get in a swipe to its shoulder before it fought her off. The flat of her wide blade shielded her from the brunt of its magical attack, and she charged again. She parried it and managed a decent hit to its chest, chipping through it. 

The Celebrant retreated. 

Elise chased it through the Ascendant Plane, the colorless void all but swallowing her. When she emerged from the other side, Osiris spoke. She didn't pay attention, not wanting to give her quarry a chance to run. Her blade cut through the Captain in her way with ease and she forced open the doors out of the chamber where she'd initially summoned the Celebrant. 

It stared her down as it descended the staircase. Elise held her rifle in her hands, ready to be challenged. Instead the Celebrant conjured up a horde of Hive to block her passage, a massive Ogre and a couple dozen screaming Thrall. Her heart sank as the Celebrant vanished. She swapped weapons and ran up the side staircase, hiding behind a pillar as she reloaded.

“It stopped bleeding energy,” Syzygy said for everyone to hear. 

Glint’s voice chirped through the comms, his usual optimism fading. _"I think the Celebrant realized we marked it, it sealed the portal behind itself."_

 _“We’re trapped in here!?"_ Crow said, shocked. 

Elise’s stomach twisted and as the Thrall came up the stairs. She set down a Rift, trying to maintain her composure but the anxiety on behalf of her friends started to overwhelm. Something cold inside of her began to scream soundlessly. 

She focused on the glimmer of Power that came not from the Light. Elisabeth had shown her how to harness it safely, to use what already dwelled within. She’d taught her how to not let it take over. Elise exhaled as she reached for the Darkness inside her. 

Instead of her Dawnblade and its warmth, a staff of blackened ice was summoned to her hand. Her SMG was cast aside. Shining crystals sprouted from her armor and down her fingertips as she sent out a blast of freezing cold. The Thrall were captured within her shards of Stasis and then shattered to pieces. The Ogre roared, the sound bouncing off of the chamber’s smooth walls. Volatile Hive magics shot from its many glowing eyes, absorbed by Elise’s shield of ice. 

It slammed on the ground, a shockwave nearly blasting her into a wall. Elise shook it off, unconcerned with herself, and sent orbs of Stasis hurtling towards the Ogre. It slowed, its flesh blackening and ice crystals forming along its chitinous plating. Elise sent out a blast of energy from the staff, staggering it. Even in its slowed state, it was a danger. She kept her distance. 

The Ogre roared as it shot at her again. The magics broke through her armor and tore at her body, another shot blasting the side of her face and shattering her helmet. Elise hit it one more time, feeling the rush of Power begin to subside. The Ogre slowed, caught up in time, and Elise took up her sword. She slashed through its middle, causing it to drop to a knee, and then plunged the blade into its face. Black ichor spewed forth from the gaping wound as the Ogre collapsed, its body convulsing before deteriorating into dust that was carried away by a Reef breeze.

Elise spat out a wad of blood through the hole in her helmet and sank to her knees as the adrenaline faded and the pain hit all at once. Syzygy compiled before her and was quick about restoring her and her gear. She breathed in sharply as her skin knitted back together and the environmental seal on her helmet was repaired. 

“That was too close,” Syzygy scolded, closely hovering in front of her face, their shell downturned to mimic a disappointed frown. 

“I’m sorry,” Elise said softly, looking down before getting up to retrieve her weapons. Syzygy hovered over her shoulder.

Osiris spoke in her ears as she was mended. _"If your companions are trapped in the Ascendant Plane with the Celebrant, then they are already lost."_ He turned melancholy. _"Li_ _ke Sagira."  
_

Her eyes closed as she remembered the old Warlock's witty Ghost. Sagira had always been cocky and brave, utterly intelligent and unafraid to speak her mind. Elise missed her. 

But Crow was a survivor. He had to be alive. They just had to get to him, somehow. 

Syzygy helped her find her voice. "The portal closed, but maybe there’s enough Hive magic left in the lure to activate some other way through.”

Elise shared a look with her Ghost and nodded. The lure was just in the last chamber, back by the cryptolith. She ran back to retrieve it, gliding most of the way for more speed. She couldn’t help but cross her fingers as she activated its trigger.

A swirl of magic burst forth and Elise looked up to see a different portal open. One that she had stepped through before, thanks to the Dreaming City’s fragile nature. She beamed, hope swelling within her. 

_"I hope you can hear this,"_ Crow’s voice said in her ears. Her eyes went wide as she climbed up floating tower fragments in order to reach the portal. A recorded message. _"T_ _he Celebrant turned it around on us. The hunter becomes the hunted. I wanted to…"_ Her heart jumped in her throat as he briefly trailed off. _"L_ _isten, if things get ugly for us in here, just know it’s not your fault. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to. Thank you. For letting me have a choice."_

Elise forced herself to calm, knowing that he had to still be alive. She glided through the air as she passed through the portal and landed heavily on a platform within. 

“Crow!” she said into her comms, reaching out and starting to run through the darkness. “We’re in the Ascendant Plane!” 

“Do you read us?” Syzygy continued as Elise became busy with shooting a vandal on a pillar.

 _"Nothing in here I can’t handle,"_ he said, annoyed and tired.

 _"What are you talking about?"_ Glint said, full of compassion and concern. _"The High Celebrant broke your legs and threw you into an Abyss!"_

 _"Nothing I can’t handle,"_ Crow insisted. Elise was just relieved to hear his voice. _“The Celebrant’s just up ahead, and I think I have a plan...”_

“Sounds good,” she said. Elise got a running jump before leaping across the void, giving herself a boost to glide across the platforms floating amidst the nothing. She sent a ball of fire out at another Vandal, likely a lookout, and took up her rifle. 

The space was like a twisted mirror image of one of the City's towers, polished white stone with stairs leading to a few platforms that must have been used for gatherings or rituals before Riven's curse. 

A barrier of magic blocked the entrance of the tower, leaving Elise contained to this small theater. She felt so small as the Celebrant approached and summoned its minions. Hive and Fallen materialized around her as the Celebrant slammed her into a wall, hard. 

Elise was dazed and concussed when she heard Syzygy speak, "You're leaving?"

 _"_ _Like Osiris said, the Celebrant must die in the Ascendant Plane, and you’re our best shot at making that happen,"_ she heard Crow say. 

He wasn't wrong. Between the Hive Gods, Ghaul, and an Ahamkara, I'm Elise had defeated her fair share of foes. This wouldn't be a terribly difficult task, if only…

"Please shut up, I am trying to not get shot," Elise snapped at the boys and Syzygy. She could feel the oppression of this space on her Light. If she died here, Syzygy wouldn't be able to bring her back, not without aid. 

She took aim at a Wizard across the space that she had managed to evade. The shot took out its shields, and upon its death the Wizard released the same essences as the small Knights from earlier. Elise's eyes widened.

She scrambled up the stairs and lept from one platform to the other, the Wrathborn's death empowering her. Elise set down a Rift as Dregs materialized to disrupt her. 

The Celebrant hardly seemed interested in stopping her itself, instead preferring to let its enthralled victims do the work of battle. Either a heavy launching attack of magics when she was in its sights, or lashing out with its sword when she got too close. Was it hubris? Did it not see her as worth fighting? What Sword Logic was this? Where was the monster that had rendered Osiris Lightless?

Elise muttered under her breath as she tucked herself behind a short wall, reloading her rifle and continuing the pattern. It was all too predictable. Wrathborn left behind the magic that poisoned them when they died. Elise could turn it against the High Celebrant. 

She got tired of shooting at it. Elise took up her sword, using the flat of it to block the incoming damage and then to shield herself from the Celebrant's sword. Elise leapt into the air to avoid being hit, absorbing the flames of one of her grenades. The heat of it in her chest made her feel lighter, letting her stay in the air longer, and she sent more flames down at the Celebrant. Its chitin smoldered and crackled. 

Another Rift. 

Another clashing of blades. 

Elise cried out as it battered her to the side, nearly knocking her off into the abyss. Her sword clattered on the ground as she rolled, barely catching herself on the edge of the theater by her fingertips. She dangled and fought to hold on.

"Elise!" Syzygy panicked. They came out briefly, quickly healing a dislocated shoulder and a few broken ribs, before ducking back inside. 

She grunted as she pulled herself back up, sliding between the Celebrant's legs as she sought out a pillar to hide behind. She set down a Rift so Syzygy could stay inside. Elise seethed as her wounds healed, the Rift less delicate than her Ghost's work but still better than nothing. 

Elise ran for her sword and charged the Celebrant again, ducking out of the way of its blade and slashing the back of its calf. It staggered. Finally, she could see it weakening. 

Syzygy hurriedly spoke into the comms, “Energy readings are spiking, it’s going to create another portal!”

She grunted as she was forced to back off, the rifle returning to her hands. She was running low on ammo for it.

“ _I’m in position on the other side,_ ” Crow alerted. “ _You’re smoking it out, but if I block the exit, it burns._ ”

She shot down another Wizard and the Acolytes beside it. Her rifle clicked when she tried to fire. Finally empty. She switched to the SMG, hoping it would be enough to maintain crowd control. 

“Make it count,” Syzygy said from inside, echoing her own thoughts. Elise nodded and closed her eyes as she readied herself. “Remember to breathe.”

Ducking out from behind the wall, Elise shot out a grenade and a few smaller balls of flame, eliminating the Thrall and Dregs that had been summoned below her. She came down, destroying a Servitor before it had a chance to harm her. 

Elise gasped as she found herself trapped within a cage of green Hive magics. She bashed her fist against the barrier but it wouldn't budge. Her eyes widened as she watched the Celebrant start to flee again.

"Crow!" she called out. "The portal!"

_"I see it."_

Time moved agonizingly slow. This was their best shot at finally ending things, it had to work. Elise held her breath as she watched the Celebrant’s magic weave, and then suddenly tear apart.

 _"_ _Now, finish it!"_

Her cage shattered as the Celebrant was torn up by its own failure, leaving it vulnerable. Elise called forth her Dawnblade to her hands and unleashed a torrent of flames. She yelled as she tore it apart, the flames sundering its armor and igniting whatever lay beneath the surface. The Celebrant roared as it fell, the sound echoing off into the mists. Everything stilled. 

Elise took a knee and breathed deeply, fatigue from the battle catching up with her. The oppression she felt had eased. Syzygy healed what remained of her wounds as she spoke into the comms, “It’s over.”

 _“The High Celebrant of Xivu Arath is no more,"_ Osiris observed. Elise could hear the relief in his voice, coupled with admiration. _“How did you manage that?”_

“Crow destroyed its portal from the other side when it tried to escape,” Syzygy explained. They hovered close by as she gathered her bearings, standing and staring at the Celebrant’s carcass.“I knew he wouldn’t really leave us.”

 _“No, never,"_ Crow said playfully. Elise’s face warmed and she batted her Ghost away when they gave her a nudge. _"_ _Oh, bring its head, would you? Spider will want proof when you come to collect."  
_

Spider… Elise’s hand made a fist and she nodded, though she knew that Crow couldn’t see her. “Right, I’m on it.”

It was easy enough to collect her trophies. She took the Celebrant’s head, smiling to herself as she looked over all of the cracks to the shell of the creature, some still smoldering. 

“Syzy, can we transmat this closer to the portal?” she asked.

“I’m on it,” they said, scanning and transporting it back across the chasm. 

Elise dusted off her robes, ignoring the headache in the back of her skull caused by her recent resurrections, and hurried back. 

Crow was waiting outside for her, Glint at his shoulder. His arms were crossed over his chest, relaxing when he saw her arrive with the head in tow. “There you are- hey!”

Elise cut him off as she ran into a hug, throwing her arms around his neck. He stood awkwardly for a moment, a bit shocked, before hugging her back.

“Were you really that worried about me?” he joked, a laugh behind his words, as though her concern was that unthinkable.

“Yeah,” she admitted, not loosening up. There was a brief pause. He tightened the hug, resting his face on her shoulder and letting out the lightest laugh.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice soft. “For getting me out of there.” 

“Of course,” she said, pulling back to face him. They were both helmeted, but they each could hear the smile in the other’s voice. Glint twirled just behind him, looking eagerly over at Syzygy across the way. She licked at her chapped lips and let go of him, clearing her throat and clasping her hands behind her back. Elise glanced back at Syzygy, who had already brought their ship around to transmat the head inside. Glint and Crow were traveling with Osiris. “We, um… we should probably get back to the Shore…”

“Probably,” he agreed. The two shared a last glance before Elise stepped back over to Syzygy. “Osiris, we’re ready to head back.”

Syzygy looked from their Guardian to the Lightbearer she’d left behind. “You didn’t tell him?”

She shook her head. “No, it’ll be better if he’s left out of it. If the Spider thinks we’ve been conspiring…” Elise trailed off and sighed. “I really don’t want Glint to get hurt, he doesn’t deserve this. Neither of them do.”

The two looked back at their companions as they were transmatted back to Osiris’ ship. They shared a look, and then they were onboard. Elise took to the helm, wanting to fly the ship herself today. 

“Not too fast,” Syzygy cautioned, settling into the little cushioned bed Elise had made for them on the dashboard. 

She didn’t listen.

* * *

Crow was already in the Spider’s lair when Elise arrived. She’d dragged in the Celebrant’s head from the transmat zone, a little way of flaunting her power to Spider’s associates as she passed them by. Two of them flanked his throne, both wielding arc blades. 

She gave the head a shove forwards and gave the smallest curtsey as she looked up at him, the large Eliksni staring her down as he toyed with a Ghost shell between his three long fingers. Elise didn’t let it disturb her anymore.

“It’s done,” she said plainly. 

“So it is,” the Spider said, nodding his approval as he leaned forward in his chair, staring her down. “So it is, heh.” He gestured for one of his associates to take care of the head as he appraised her. “Alright Guardian. As promised, you can have a prized bauble from my lair, as compensation for your… heroics.”

Elise steeled herself as she glanced around, noting the bags of Lightless shells and the crates of cargo. “I want…” Her gaze rested on Crow. “Him.”

The Spider scoffed as Crow’s eyes grew wide, the Lightbearer looking towards his master. “Cute. Real funny.”

“You said, anything in the room,” Elise challenged, her eyes fixed on the Spider as the two guards raised their arc blades. She could feel Syzygy’s anxiety, but they stayed put.

He laughed, deep and mocking, then growled. “You really want my little bird? Fine. You can have him.” Her stomach twisted as he turned towards Crow, the growl in his voice thickening. “Fly away. And get the hell out of my lair.”

Crow briefly met her gaze, his lack of helmet allowing her to see the way his mouth was slightly agape. He did as told and began walking to the exit. Elise guided him forwards with a brief hand to his shoulder, making sure that he was ahead of her as they left the halls behind. 

It was too easy. There had to be a catch, eventually. She still feared for Glint, but she didn’t dare question it. 

Syzygy came out and hovered by Elise when they’d all made it safely out. Crow stared up at the sky as Glint compiled beside him. 

“Now what?” the Ghost asked, looking to his companions.

Crow just stared. “I… I don’t know. It doesn’t feel real. Freedom…” He turned to face Elise. “Why would you do this for us?”

The question gave her pause. She looked to her Ghost, quiet and waiting for her to be the one to speak. “Because… I had to. Even if you don’t think of yourself as one, you are a Guardian,” she said, “and we have to look out for each other.”

Her response seemed to catch him off guard. Crow turned his gaze back so that his hood hid his face. “I need some time to consider all of this,” he said. “Sort things out here on the Shore. And Glint needs to be taken care of.”

Elise nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“You’ve done a lot, Elise,” Glint said, flitting over to her. Elise reached a finger up to poke the tip of his right flap affectionately. 

Crow smiled at her. Elise smiled back and hoped he could tell. This was a good step forward. Despite everything that had happened in recent months, there was this. And she couldn’t wait to see what came next for them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading <3


End file.
